SEVIS data indicate international student enrollment has dropped 11% since March 2024, before accounting for NSF and NIH cuts and the expected Travel Ban 2.0
I know several people back home who have shelved plans to come to the US. There was an unwritten social contract between the US, the universities and the students.
The students would fund universities with their money. In return the universities would allow them to stay for 2 or more years. The US would help by giving them 3 years' access to the job market.
In recent times, all of this has been violated. Universities are becoming more expensive and starting to milk students more. As more universities realize how much of a cash cow Indian students are, they admit more students to their program, diluting the opportunities and the quality. The job market has softened. And visa restrictions keep on increasing (and no, this isn't a Trump-only thing).
For Indians, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Green cards for even highly accomplished visa holders are hard to come by unless you are willing to shell out a million dollar to buy a green card through EB-5.
Even if the funding cuts don't come through, I don't see the US remaining a top destination for talent. It will still attract the cream of the crop, but with decreased funding even that is unclear.
Other countries wouldn't fare much better. I am positive that you would see the same decline in Canada, Australia and the UK too. These countries' paths to permanent residency are becoming harder too. There is growing anti-Indian sentiment as well. And their job markets aren't as good as the US.
Thanks for this update, Chris. These data are there for the world to see, but few colleagues check the SEVIS updates. The proof is in the statistical pudding.
I like the piece. This chunk of text is repeated three times in a row in it, though.
“This isn't just another cyclical fluctuation—we're witnessing a fundamental restructuring that will have profound implications for university finances, research output, and America's position in the global knowledge economy.”
"The dramatic shift in international student enrollment has the potential to reshape American higher education in ways that would be difficult to reverse."
Many, many of us certainly hope so. Inadequate returns for life-destroying costs, slanted away from benefitting the people who pay for its core existence? That isn't a sustainable model. Trust is an invisible resource - until you lose it. That has already changed "in ways that would be difficult to reverse." What follows is just the consequences flowing downstream.
This tracks with my experience.
I know several people back home who have shelved plans to come to the US. There was an unwritten social contract between the US, the universities and the students.
The students would fund universities with their money. In return the universities would allow them to stay for 2 or more years. The US would help by giving them 3 years' access to the job market.
In recent times, all of this has been violated. Universities are becoming more expensive and starting to milk students more. As more universities realize how much of a cash cow Indian students are, they admit more students to their program, diluting the opportunities and the quality. The job market has softened. And visa restrictions keep on increasing (and no, this isn't a Trump-only thing).
For Indians, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Green cards for even highly accomplished visa holders are hard to come by unless you are willing to shell out a million dollar to buy a green card through EB-5.
Even if the funding cuts don't come through, I don't see the US remaining a top destination for talent. It will still attract the cream of the crop, but with decreased funding even that is unclear.
Other countries wouldn't fare much better. I am positive that you would see the same decline in Canada, Australia and the UK too. These countries' paths to permanent residency are becoming harder too. There is growing anti-Indian sentiment as well. And their job markets aren't as good as the US.
Thanks for this update, Chris. These data are there for the world to see, but few colleagues check the SEVIS updates. The proof is in the statistical pudding.
I like the piece. This chunk of text is repeated three times in a row in it, though.
“This isn't just another cyclical fluctuation—we're witnessing a fundamental restructuring that will have profound implications for university finances, research output, and America's position in the global knowledge economy.”
"The dramatic shift in international student enrollment has the potential to reshape American higher education in ways that would be difficult to reverse."
Many, many of us certainly hope so. Inadequate returns for life-destroying costs, slanted away from benefitting the people who pay for its core existence? That isn't a sustainable model. Trust is an invisible resource - until you lose it. That has already changed "in ways that would be difficult to reverse." What follows is just the consequences flowing downstream.